So I heard breaking news this morning on Good Morning America. Gastric bypass has shown to actually eliminate diabetes in patients with Type 2. Not make your sugars just go down, but actually stop the need for the meds or shots. The only problem is...the surgery is between $20,000 - $30,000 dollars. Some insurance will pay for this. Is this something we really need to push IHS to pay for? Would you consider the surgery???

Gastric bypass has been a tremendous help to morbidly obese people who have had difficulty losing weight through traditional methods (diet, exercise).

The biggest obstacle is maintaining weight afterwards. I have a friend who had the surgery some years ago, and then managed to stretch out the small pouch of stomach the surgery created and got back to eating her typical portion sizes again. Yes, she gained all the weight back, and then some.

As I said that was years ago. I do medical transcription for work, and now the typical plan of care is that you go through counseling for several months before you have your procedure to evaluate your commitment to the process and help prepare you for adjusting to the new way of eating. Some patients are also asked to lose some weight in advance of the procedure, too. Not sure if this for medical reasons alone or to further determine how committed they are to playing by the rules. Hopefully this is leading to more people complying with their treatment and keeping the weight off for good.

It would be great if IHS and other insurances covered it - especially in the case of younger people. You can prevent so many other complications of type 2 diabetes if it is reversed earlier in life.

G.P. surgery is for obese, u have to be a certian size/wieght to qualify...not for ur average fatty such as myself lol. IHS could spend the money on tredmills, walking tracks and dieticians to educate...there is a lot of ignorance surrounding nutrition amoung natives. Ndns are stubborn creatures.

The lady that had the surgery down was only like 198lbs....and now she's like 120...so it's not just for morbidly obese. They say within minutes to hours, the levels of the ghremlin (sp?) starts balancing out. And sadly..even with diet and exercise, you can still have high blood sugars.....I would know...*L*
And no it isn't just about weight......I know skinny peeps with type 2 now. It's the food..but the FDA will never admit it. All the preservatives and over processed foods. More minorities and whites as well are getting type 2 diabetes. That is why they are predicting in another 10 years..that half the US will be diabetic........Now that it is affecting OTHER people.....Dr.'s are finally doing more research.

I have diabetes and i'm only slightly over my "ideal" weight... and I agree that 20 to 30 grand can be used in better ways. Some people never learn and will continue to follow their bad habits. I do know of people who have had the surgery and kept it off though and it was a life saver. Diabetes kills! So I do my best to fight it every day...

[QUOTE=CandaePrincess;1463696]The lady that had the surgery down was only like 198lbs....and now she's like 120...so it's not just for morbidly obese. They say within minutes to hours, the levels of the ghremlin (sp?) starts balancing out. And sadly..even with diet and exercise, you can still have high blood sugars.....I would know...*L*
And no it isn't just about weight......I know skinny peeps with type 2 now. It's the food..but the FDA will never admit it. All the preservatives and over processed foods. More minorities and whites as well are getting type 2 diabetes. That is why they are predicting in another 10 years..that half the US will be diabetic........Now that it is affecting OTHER people.....Dr.'s are finally doing more research.[/]

The rising cost of food isn't going to make keeping healthy any easier. Produce prices are up and commodity prices are up too, making the cost of raising beef, chicken, and pork higher. People are tight on money, and sadly, processed/fast foods are often way cheaper than their non-processed alternatives.

i wouldnt. i walk 45 minits a day on my treadmill to keep this chubby bunny shape. i dont eat totally healthy but i go every 6 monthes to get my blood sugars/cholesterol/ect checked. im doin my best on my own.

Hmm... I'm skeptical that it was the actual surgery that caused the reversal of the type 2 but rather the loss of weight, healthier eating and even exercise.

The whole older generation of my family has had adult onset of type 2 as they reached their 50s and 60s. None are particularly obese or even mildly overweight but as they aged and their body shape changed (larger amount of tummy area) they were one by one DX'ed. The only one who required insulin was an aunt (whose eating habits were and still are horrible), the rest controlled their type 2 by diet and exercise.

So far, I've escaped it but my doc puts it down to the amount of exercise I do each day (a 5-10km run, weights and swimming) and my overall diet of traditional and country foods ( I do splurge with restaurant and ethnic foods like Chinese and Indian). I have noticed however, that as I get closer to 50 that my middle area is changing shape so I have to be even more diligent with the sugar levels and testing.

Did the original article mention how tall the lady was? While a female who is maybe 5'10" at 198 would not be morbidly obese but a woman at 5'0" might be consider a higher risk.

__________________A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. — Robert A. Heinlein

The lady that had the surgery down was only like 198lbs....and now she's like 120...so it's not just for morbidly obese. They say within minutes to hours, the levels of the ghremlin (sp?) starts balancing out. And sadly..even with diet and exercise, you can still have high blood sugars.....I would know...*L*
And no it isn't just about weight......I know skinny peeps with type 2 now. It's the food..but the FDA will never admit it. All the preservatives and over processed foods. More minorities and whites as well are getting type 2 diabetes. That is why they are predicting in another 10 years..that half the US will be diabetic........Now that it is affecting OTHER people.....Dr.'s are finally doing more research.[/]

The rising cost of food isn't going to make keeping healthy any easier. Produce prices are up and commodity prices are up too, making the cost of raising beef, chicken, and pork higher. People are tight on money, and sadly, processed/fast foods are often way cheaper than their non-processed alternatives.

Exactly. I wanted to find a way to contact the Obama admin. and ask them about their eating healthy campaign....why not change commods??? I know a lot of natives are going to want to throttle me. *L* Why not whole wheat pastas and macaroni? Why not vouchers on oh, IDK...REAL eggs?? Frozen or fresh veggies.......real milk.......I mean, if people on wic and food stamps can get those items...why not natives who get commods?

Unfortunately too with the rising cost of gas prices, food will continue to go up.

Hmm... I'm skeptical that it was the actual surgery that caused the reversal of the type 2 but rather the loss of weight, healthier eating and even exercise.

The whole older generation of my family has had adult onset of type 2 as they reached their 50s and 60s. None are particularly obese or even mildly overweight but as they aged and their body shape changed (larger amount of tummy area) they were one by one DX'ed. The only one who required insulin was an aunt (whose eating habits were and still are horrible), the rest controlled their type 2 by diet and exercise.

So far, I've escaped it but my doc puts it down to the amount of exercise I do each day (a 5-10km run, weights and swimming) and my overall diet of traditional and country foods ( I do splurge with restaurant and ethnic foods like Chinese and Indian). I have noticed however, that as I get closer to 50 that my middle area is changing shape so I have to be even more diligent with the sugar levels and testing.

Did the original article mention how tall the lady was? While a female who is maybe 5'10" at 198 would not be morbidly obese but a woman at 5'0" might be consider a higher risk.

it def. has to do with the surgery b/c the insulin levels drop minutes after the surgery. You don't lose the weight until weeks after....so it does have to do with the surgery.

my wife had it done and beat the diabetes. now as for exercise, my wife ran 2 miles a day and lifted weights along with good diet for months and didnt lose a pound. all of her docs said she had some problems making it not possible to lose on diet and exercise alone short of complete starvation.since mid dec2010 after the gastric bypass she has gone from 265 to 190 and is losing alot everyday and still running and lifting weights. so there are some circumstances where gastric bypass is ideal. for me on the otherhand, i was wounded in iraq and couldnt exercise for a long time and gained from 210lbs at 6'4" up to 295. in dec i began the same exercise and diet routine that my wife had and as of today have lost 36lbs. i know military tricare insurance will pay for the surgury but other insurance policies vary. My wife is Choctaw and diabetes runs in her family. I am 1/8 Comanche and 1/8 Caddo, and a little amount of Lipan and diabetes also runs in my family. she beat it with the surgury and i beat it without surgury.

__________________A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. — Robert A. Heinlein